Mechanism for printing from intaglio printing-plates.



H. A. w. woop. MECHANISM FOR PRINTING FROM IN'TAGLIO PRINTING PLATES.

SEPT-30,1905- RENEWED MAY 22, I9I6- APPLICATION FILED Patented Dec. 19, 1916.

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HENRY A. WISE WOOD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO WOOD & NATHAN COBIPAN'Y, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MECHANISM FOR PRINTING FROM INTAGLIO E'RIN'I'ING-PLATES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1916.

Application fiIed. September 30, 1905, Serial No. 280,752. Renewed May 22, 1916. Serial No. 99,212.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY A. WISE vVooD, a. citizen of the United States, residing at Xcw York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented new and useful llllechanisms for Printing from Iii-- taglio Printing-Plates, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide improved mechanisms for printing from intaglio printing plates.

The customary method of printing from intaglio or printing plates with the design cut or etched therein consists in inking the plates, wiping or scraping off the surplus ink so as to leave ink only in the depressions, and then pressing the sheet of paper onto the plates.

By this improvement it is possible to arrange a printing press of ordinary construction, such as a printing-press employing a reciprocating member or bed, or a platen printing press to print from intaglio printing plates. In adapting: the invention to presses of this character, a receptacle is provided so that the surplus ink removed by the scraperfrom the printing plate is de-.

posited in the receptacle.

The preferred way of practising the 1nvention is to apply the same to the mechanism in such way that a state of oppositely reciprocating movement will exist between the printing plate and scraper. and to actuate the scraper so that preferably it will act on the plate on a movement in but one direction, preferably just before printing. In this preferred form of mechanism, provision is 1' referabl v made for immediately removing the surplus ink from the scraper and dcpositing or carrying the same to the receptacle adapted to receive the surplus ink.

The invention further consists of certain arrangements and combinations hereinafter described in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming part of this application for patent. which is a side elevation of a two-revolution printing press illustrating the preferred form of the. invention.

From earliest times in the art of printing it has been recognized that printed products of artistic merit could best be produced from printing plates engraved or etched in in taglio; and in more recent times the mechanical perfection of intaglio printing plates has been greatly increased by various photo-etching processes.

In order to do artistic printing from intaglio printing plates, particularly in order to produce satisfactory results from photoetched' plates, it is necessary to wipe the surface of the plate free from ink without disturbingthe ink which should be retained in the very fine stipple or minute cells which are etched or engaged into the face of the plate.

The art of'printing from intaglio printing plates is an art practised with best results by hand, and by the aid of the judgment and experience of skilled specialists in plate-printing. I

In the ordinary hand-press for plate print ing the inking, of the plate is the part of the operation which requires the most skill and judgment. A, skilled plate-printer after havinginked the surface of his plate is required to use great care in wiping off the surface of the plate, and although some printers have attempted to use various wipcrs of softmaterial, ithas been found in practicethat the most artistic and satisfactory results are produced by workmen who use the palms of their hands in cleaning the surfaces of their plates before the successive sheets are laid thereon to be imprinted by their presses.

A number of different constructions have been proposed for mechanically printing from intaglio printing plates. In most instances the machines have been designed to follow as closely as possible the steps of hand-printing. In one typical form of such machines it was proposed to drag the plates in horizontal orbits by chains, so that the plates would be successively carried pastinking devices, and past wiping devices for cleaning off the sii1'pliis'iiil ,-tlie sheets being placed upon the plates by hand. In these machines, as in all other machines for mechanically printing from int-aglioprinting plates it was proposed to use cushioned wipers of chamois-skin or other soft ma- I BEST AVAILABLE GOP 15 justed t scrape oil the surplus ink from the es of intagiio printing plates,

'witlamt rippi: J out or lu'eakiug down the 'pple or line points of the design,- and thout it-llltivlllg the ink contained even in the liner depressions of the intaglio plates.

In an art remote from printing paper from in glio printing plates it has been proposed to use scraping blades. This has been done in removing the surplus pigments from. the engraving rollers employed in printing calicoes.

in the art of calico printing, the engraved patterirrollers revolve in troughs or fountains containing the. desired pigments, and in connection with these printing rollers, scrapers or so-ealled doctor blades are employed for scraping oll' surplus ink. This is, however, a quite different application of a scraper or blade from that contemplated by my invention, in which the scaiper or blade is used in connection with v1 line depressions of intaglio printplates as distinguished from the pattrrollers used in calico printing, which engraved by hand, and are ennout the stipple or delicate texetched plates used in printing er clnnaci cristic diii'erence between wllllllll and the constructions emin when printing is that I bare it d e to provide a receptacle rate from the ink fountain .lus ink which is scraped li :o printing the en.- plus pip;- to return directly to their .itimi will be best llllflOYStOOt'l by the meehanisn'i in detail. "nu; to the mechanism shown in the d signates the framing; B the printing member or bed; and (I the impression cylinder of an ordinary. printing pr 5 such a. printing press of the well-known two-rerolution type. P designates the iniafglio printing plate or plates which may be secured to the bed in any desired way. do 'tes the ink fountain, and G the form inking rollers. T designates reeiprorauu an ink table carried by the bed. Ink is takenfrom the ink fountain F by meansof a suitable (luctor roller and placed upon the ink table 'l. which carries the ink to the form inking rollers (-l which in turn lay the same upon the printing Cplate or plates. These parts may be arrange as is common in printing; presses of the type described.

The sheets are fed to the impression cylinder from the usual feed member and are delivered from the impression cylinder by any suitable deliverv mechanism, as iiuhcated in the drawings. The impression cylinder raised and lowered in the usual way so that it contacts with the printiu" plate on the forward stroke of the bed, and so that it clears the printing plate on the return stroke of the bed.

S designates the scraper which is made out of a piece of thin metal, preferably ground to a fine accurate edge. This scraper S is secured'to arms which are pivot-ed on a shaft 11 journaled in suitable brackets One of the arms is connected to a rod 13 which carries a roller 14 hearing on a cam 15 arranged on the camshaft of the machine, which shaft makes one turn for each complete forward and backward movement of the printing member or, bed.

The rod 13 is arranged in a suitable guide 16 and the roll ll is held) to its cam by a spring 17. The cam 15 is so arranged that as the bed makes its forward or printing movement, the scraper S will be moved down to contact lightl and accurately with the printing-plate. A roller 18 is'secured to said shaft 11. This roller is driven by any suitable gearing, such as indicated in dotted. lines. and this gearing is preferably ranged so that the peripheral speed of the, roll will be greater than the speed. at which the bed moves forward on its printing stroke. A recruitarle It is arranged behind the roller 18 and a. scraper or ink remover i9 is arranged between the receptacle R and the roller 18. lo this arrangement, as the scraper S removes the surplus ink from the printing plate or plates, the roller 18 will take this ink from the scraper and the scraper 19 will remove the surplus ink from the roller 18 and guide the same into the receptacle ll which will prevent the; surplus ink from backing: up or crowding on the plate as the bed makes its printing mover" mcnl. intaglio printing can be effected from intaglio printing plates at a speed at which ordinary printing done.

The eonstructimi shown is the preferred arrangement in that the ink removed by the scraper from the printing plate or plates is immediately carried away from the scraper instead of being forced back upon the print ing plate.

.Many other arrangements and modifically this arrangement.

tions maybe devised for constructing my invention by a skilled mechanic without departing from the scope of my lllVGIltlOIldlS expressed in the claims.

Having thus fully described my invention,-what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In mechanism for printing from intaglio printing plates, the combination of a printing member having a -to-and-fro movement, a scraping blade. means for causing the blade to contact with the printing 'member upon alternate movements thereof. and a cleaning device, the surface of which has a movement along the surface of the blade and is constantly in contact therewith for removing ret'use ink therefrom.

In a mechanism for printing from intaglio printing plates, the combination of an impression.member. a printing member for carrying the printing plate, an inking inechanism for inking the printing plate, an oscillatable scraping blade having an edge for engaging the printing plate for removing the surplus ink from the printing plate, a receptacle for the surplus ink. and means "for constantly removing the surplus ink from the scraper and conveying the same into the receptacle in all positions of the scraper.

23. In a mechanism tor printing from intaglio printing plates, the combination of an impression member, a printing member for carrying the printing plate. an inking mechanism tor the printing plate. a scraper hav member for carrying the printing plate, an inkingmechanism for the plate, a scraper for removing the surplus ink from the plate, means for causing the scraper to contact with the printing plate upon alternate movements of the printing member, a receptacle for the surplus ink, and a carrier driven at a faster peripheral speed than the maximum'speed of the bed during its printing movement.

5. In a mechanism for printing from intaglio printing plates, the combination of an impression member, a reciprocating printing member for carrying the printing plate, an inking mechanism for the plate, means for removing the surplus ink from the plate, means for causing the removing means to contact with the printing plate upon alternate movements of the latter, a receptacle for the surplus ink, a carrier for removing the surplus ink from the first named means in all positions thereof and passing the same to the receptacle. and means for driving said carrier at a taster peripheral speed than the minimum speed of the printing member during its printing movement.

(3. In a. mechanism tor printing from intaglio printing plates. the combination of a so 'aping blade having a straight edge movable bodily into and out of contact with the plates. a roller constantly in contact with said scraper for receiving ink therefrom in all positions of the scraper, a second so 'aper having a scraping edgceonstantly engaging the roller, and a stationary receptacle inposition to receive ink from the second so a'per. IH tOStlIHOH V whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 4

H. A. WISE WOOD.

Witnesses i \V. H. STE'ISON,

ANME B. \VAL'rnns; 

